MOTORING NEWS

CHINESE-owned MG will unveil what it calls an “urban SUV” concept car at the Shanghai Motor Show this weekend. The MG CS concept previews MG’s first production urban SUV.

It has been penned by a design team led by MG’s global design director, Anthony Williams-Kenny. The company says: “The MG CS oozes British design flair while embracing the sporting DNA of MG, an iconic brand.

“The headlights have a multi-faceted ‘shard’ structure which refracts light in different colours and shape from the side, but coalesce to form the iconic MG’s trademark octagon from the front.”

I’m sure that makes more sense in the flesh than it does on paper.

Kia plans to be in the top five UK best sellers before the end of this decade, selling 100,000 cars a year, up from an expected 70,000 this year.

Paul Philpott, president of Kia UK, says: “Our growth will not depend on the UK market growing. We will get there because we have the right products.”

Kia UK sold 19,204 vehicles in the first three months of 2013, up from 17,211 in for the first quarter of 2012.

Audi’s new SQ5 high-performance SUV — the first diesel-engined car to wear Audi’s sports-derived “S” badge — is available to order now. Start your bidding at £43,870.

The SQ5’s 3.0-litre engine uses two turbochargers to boost power to 311bhp and a tugboat-rivalling 480lb/ft of torque. Best of all, it doesn’t even sound like a diesel. We know this, because we’ve already driven it.

Power is fed to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic gearbox, which can be tweaked, along with throttle response, suspension stiffness and steering weight, to suit the driver’s mood. The 0-60 time is five seconds, top speed is limited to 155mph and, as long as you don’t go mad with all that power at your disposal, you’ll see 41.5mpg at the pumps, Audi says.

tHE latest version of the Volkswagen Golf GTD is now available to order in the UK, with prices starting at £25,285. The new GTD is powered by a 2.0-litre turbo diesel engine with 182bhp. Maximum torque has risen from 258 lbs ft to 280 lbs ft from 1,750 rpm. Acceleration from 0-62 mph takes 7.5 seconds, and the top speed is 142 mph.

Despite the performance hike, VW is promising 67.3 miles for every gallon of fuel and CO2 emissions of 109 g/km. Plump for the optional six-speed paddle-shift automatic and fuel consumption is 62.8 mpg and CO2 is 119 g/km, exactly the same as 2007’s much-less-potent first-generation Golf BlueMotion.

FIAT is wooing sporty young things with this limited-edition Punto. For £12,000, you get a three-door Punto with a 77bhp 1.4-litre petrol engine, black metallic paint with matt black stripes and 17-inch alloy wheels. Other kit includes body-coloured rear spoiler and side skirts and sports suspension. Only 300 examples will be built.

JUST got time to tell you about the Volvo V60 Polestar. 3.0-litre straight six, 350bhp, 0-62 in 4.9 seconds, 4WD and only on sale in... Australia?!